chaos_chroniclesfandomcom-20200214-history
Sagittarius A*
Sagittarius A* (A-Star) is the designation of a supermassive black hole that exists at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It is a gigantic black hole that is known to be the gravitational anchor of the entire galaxy. Black holes like Sagittarius A* are believed to exist in multiple galaxies, and by the 33rd Century, several have been directly viewed through interactions of gas clouds on their event horizons. Sagittarius A* is notable not only because of its position as the de facto center of the galaxy, but it also serves as the place of confinement for a being known as the Prisoner, a creature that could only be contained in a place where laws of the universe break down entirely. Description As it is a black hole, it is impossible to directly view the singularity itself. The one place where it is possible to detect the black hole is where light is not. The event horizon of the black hole measures to around 15.5 solar radii, but the zone of instability extends much farther. The black hole's mass however is what gives it so much danger. Despite being roughly fifteen times as big as the sun, it is well over five hundred thousand times its mass. Stars collapse into black holes when they have multiple times their own mass. Supermassive black holes on the other hand form when so many masses of stars converge through gravity and compression of matter that a collapse is guaranteed. These types of stellar monsters are known to spin, which is unusual, but not unheard of for a black hole. Sagittarius A* was believed to have formed at the same time as the galaxy around it in the ancient past of the universe 13.3 billion years ago. Stellar material from the young universe collided with one another eventually clumping together to large and with such ferocity that it collapsed into a singular point. Sagittarius A* spent millions of years gobbling up gas and dust growing larger and larger until it was swallowing whole stars. Eventually, Sagittarius A* had attracted enough gas and dust to form what we now know as the Milky Way. Sagittarius A* constantly gets fed new material as stars drift closer to the black hole. Clouds of dust and gas also wander so closely that they are torn asunder by the gravitational forces. There is even some speculation that in several billion years when the galaxy Andromeda is set to collide with the Milky Way, enough stellar material may collide with the black hole to trigger what is known as a quasar, or active galactic nucleus. Several stars are known to orbit the black hole. There are many hundreds that orbit at close range, but thousands more than are on longer period orbits. One of the closest stars known to orbit the black hole is known as Source-2. It has an orbital period of 15.5 years and orbits at 1% the speed of light. The Prisoner What the greater extent of the galaxy is not aware of is the fact that Sagittarius A* is not only the center of the galaxy, but the internment center of an ancient entity known as the Prisoner. The Prisoner itself is almost entirely unknown with only a few details uncovered by the UNSC as of 3239. What is known is that the Prisoner is an alien creature that was alive at the time of the Forerunners and according to whatever records there are, much longer than that. What is puzzling is that evidence uncovered shows that the Prisoner is within the black hole, which is impossible with the current understanding of physics. The laws of gravity state that the tidal forces of the event horizon are unable to be sidestepped and once an object hits the singularity, its atoms are ripped apart and gone forever from the visible universe. This leads to the speculation that perhaps the Prisoner exists on levels of reality that many creatures of the galaxy are not aware of, though there is no way to prove it at this point in time. What is known is that the Prisoner has attempted to escape its prison a number of times but has failed to do so. On its last attempt, the Prisoner succeeded in doing something that may make its next escape easier. The question now is why it hasn't simply chosen to leave yet. Orbiting the black hole is a structure known only as the Station. It is an incredibly ancient structure that was created by an unknown race. It is nearly indestructible even though it appears naturally constructed. It orbits dangerously close to the black hole's event horizon, near the edge of the photon sphere - the area where light particles get trapped forever, but still avoid the event horizon. The Station though should be unstable and fall onto the black hole, yet it remains in its position against logic and physics. It is not known how it does so. The station also has the ability to draw material up from the accretion disk of the black hole and use it as a weapon creating stellar mass black holes and using them as offensive weaponry. If the tidal forces don't kill their enemy, then the end result of the Hawking Radiation when it evaporates will. Behind the Scenes I've always had a fascination with this piece of our galaxy. Sagittarius A* would be an excellent place to have an endgame. A simple thing so large, so massive and so dangerous in its own right. I'm also a fan of the game Elite: Dangerous, which gives you the option of traveling there. I can't think of a better place to cap off a storyline than at something responsible for holding the whole galaxy together. I also a while ago confused Sagittarius A* with another black hole, Cygnus X-1. I never intended it to be such and it represented a small continuity error on my part. List of Appearances * Warpath (First Mentioned) * Deception (First Appearance) * Heart of Chaos Category:Locations Category:Planets Category:Lore Category:Planet